Hair care products are flooding the cosmetic market so we – consumers (mostly female!) – flood our dressing tables, shelves, drawers, cabinets and whatnots with them. It’s hard not to give in to this madness. Are they all essentials? Do you really need them all? Which ones are useful and which ones prove completely useless? We present hair care must (and mustn’t) haves.

Obligatory hair products

Hair care cosmetics that every woman must have, that is the essentials:

  • shampoo,
  • hair conditioner,
  • hair mask.

A shampoo for regular use should contain SCS, or Sodium Cocoacetate Sulfates; from time to time we should reach for anti-dandruff shampoo containing simple ingredients. After shampooing, use a conditioner: oil-based daily, keratin-rich every now and then. When it comes to hair masks and treatments, buy them at the chemist’s and use as compress for scalp and hair. If you’re not susceptible to allergies, try natural masks including herbs. Sometimes, replace masks with products with silk or milk for a change.

Optional hair products

Hair care products that help grow long hair include:

  • product for hair ends (serum),
  • hairstyling product,
  • hair growth activator.

All of these products can be used throughout the year but we should suit products to seasons of the year. For example, your hair ends serum should be rich in silk in warm months but it should include natural oils in winter. For hairstyling routine, use a gel or mousse in spring and summer whereas creams make better choice for autumn and winter time. When it comes hair growth boosters, use herbal treatments from March to October and products infused with alcohol and chili from October to March.

Other optional hair care products include:

  • leave-in conditioner,
  • hair oil,
  • hair wax,
  • dry shampoo,
  • hair rinse.

Prohibited hair products

Take a look at products you should forget:

  • hairspray,
  • sea salt,
  • hair lightener,
  • root lift powder,
  • styling paste.

Why are they on the list of prohibited products? What to use instead? Hairsprays trigger allergic reactions and scalp irritations. To make things worse, they might cause hair to fall out and build up on hair looking awful. You can use a spray gel instead.

Sea salt is meant for adding volume to hair. Too bad, it leaves hair very dry; used daily for approx. 14 days it leaves hair wrecked. Instead, use a quality volumising shampoo and hair setting spray. Try a great home remedy for fuller hair: potato starch.

A hair lightener is yet another enemy you should keep away from. It contains strong chemicals and damages hair structure. Use a gentle lightening spray or have hair bleached by a pro.

A hair root lifter used in the long run has a dehydrating effect on hair and scalp. Instead, use a dry shampoo or potato starch. When it comes to alternatives to matte-effect pastes, try wax or pomade which tame unruly flyaways yet won’t give unattractive dull hair look.